


But Dinosaurs

by startrekkingaroundasgard



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Cute Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan, Dinosaurs, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Grandparent Graham O'Brien, POV The Doctor (Doctor Who), TARDIS Rooms, Team TARDIS, the doctor can't make tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekkingaroundasgard/pseuds/startrekkingaroundasgard
Summary: The Doctor brings tiny dinosaurs on board the TARDIS and one bites Ryan. Hints of 13/Yaz
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan & Graham O'Brien & Ryan Sinclair
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	But Dinosaurs

"Hey, Doc?"

The Doctor popped her head around the central console, white shirt sleeves covered in splodges of TARDIS engine oil pushed up around her elbows, and stared at Graham expectantly. He had that look in his eyes again, the one that either meant she was a complete genius or something was on fire. It was surprising how often the two overlapped. "Yeah?"

"So you know that planet we visited last week?"

"Gammatraxi or Klom?"

Graham frowned, his memory never great when it came to the names of the far flung places they visited. He gave a little shrug and sat down nearby where she worked, eyeing the gaps between the floor panelling very closely indeed. "Dunno. Whichever one was hot."

"Oh! You mean Maratulio. How's the moonburn doing?" The Doctor became really interested in the flickering green light above her head as Graham tugged on the hem of his shirt, ready to show her. "Don't need to see it. Not really that kind of doctor anyway."

His hands fell to his side, a sheepish smile on his face. "Yeah, yeah. Course. Well, it's better. That paste worked wonders on the blisters."

Busying her hands with adjusting the temporal accelerator - only a minor improvement that should in no way cause a problem in the near, or distant, future - The Doctor asked, "What did you want to talk about? I'm guessing you didn't come to just update me on your moonburn."

"Right, well," Graham began, his gaze jolting to a shadow across the console room. Nothing special about it, cast by the light glow of the console and the crystal formations but he watched it as if something were about to jump out and eat him. 

Unlikely, The Doctor thought. Most of the creatures that lived inside shadows were quite intent on staying within the darkness. Like the Vashdanarada, they just waited for the first fool to cross into them. The TARDIS would keep those sorts of nasties out but she suddenly found herself only ninety-five (or maybe it was fifty-nine) percent sure that the shields were working properly. "Have you got any chicken?"

"I… What's that got to do with anything, Doc?"

"Nothing," she grinned, shaking the thought away. It would be fine. Definitely fine and nothing to worry about. Still, The Doctor made a mental note to check the bio-filters later. "You were saying."

"Basically, those dinosaurs from Maru-whatsit are in the swimming pool and Ryan pet one -"

She nodded, understanding. "They are cute."

"Yeah, but I just wanted to check that he wouldn't get some kind of space virus thing and…" Graham slowed to a halt and eyed her curiously. It wasn't quite accusatory but there was a hint of something there, as if this was very important information she'd forgotten to share. "You knew they were there?"

The Doctor ran back through her memories of the past week and realised that she had indeed neglected to tell her fam that she'd saved a few of the baby dinosaurs from the lava flow. She jumped to her feet, wiped her oily hands down her trousers and felt her face scrunch in the way it happened to do so much now. "I couldn't just leave them, Graham! And I was only gonna keep them around long enough to find them a new home."

"But why the swimming pool?"

"It's one of the warmest rooms on the ship," she said. That was obvious, wasn't it? Baby alien dinosaurs, too young to properly regulate their body temperature, needed to be kept somewhere hot and the heart of the TARDIS was just a few thousand degrees too much for the little creatures. Plus, she'd swooped them up from a little stream so they probably enjoyed being in the water; no need to scare them too much by giving a really drastic change in environment. "Wait, one bit Ryan?"

Not waiting for an answer, The Doctor raced down the hallway to the swimming pool and skidded along the tile flooring. One day, she really would pay attention to the no running sign but today was not that day. She grabbed Ryan by the wrist and turned his hand around, checking his fingers for any unusual colouring or sticky pores. His skin was a little puffy around the tiny teeth marks but aside from that it appeared she'd gotten there in time. 

"Castaveer tea. That's what you need."

"Why?" Ryan asked, gently tugging his hand free. 

Beside him, Yaz was quite happily stroking the head of a little red dinosaur, the baby creature growling quietly in happy appreciation. She'd mastered the technique perfectly without instruction, stroking down from the first spike, around the second and third to stop just above the tail. The baby's scales shimmered purple and The Doctor smiled. Of course it liked Yaz. Everyone liked Yaz. She was great. 

"Doc?"

"Yes," she said, snapping her attention back to Ryan. Focus, Doctor. "Castaveer tea fights infections. Better to be safe than sorry with a Maratu dino bite. Don't want your hand to turn green and fall off."

Ryan's eyes bulged as Graham finally padded into the room, apparently not in such a rush. "It can do that?"

She shrugged. There were no accounts as to what would happen when a human was bitten but that seemed the most likely outcome. "Maybe. Might turn blue instead. Come on, let's get you that tea. And maybe next time don't pet the dinosaurs without supervision."

"That's rich coming from you," he pointed out, another really valid point. Her fam were on it today (save for, you know, being bitten by an alien dinosaur). "But seriously, what was I meant to do? They're so cool!" 

"Follow Yaz's lead?" The Doctor suggested, meeting her bright smile with one of her own. She scooped a yellow spotty baby from the water and stroked it gently with her forefinger, warmth in her hearts as it threw its head and roared quietly at the ceiling. Setting the alien baby back in the swimming pool, she said, "Yaz paid attention and didn't get bitten. That's gold star behaviour."

Behind her, Yaz quietly pumped her fist victoriously. Ryan simply gestured at the swimming pool, equally as excited. "No offense but they're so much cooler than you. I definitely wasn't listening to the rules.” 

"Rude." 

Graham patted The Doctor on the back and said, "Don't take it personally, Doc. I've seen the pictures. Ryan was obsessed with the things as a kid. Clearly never grew out of it."

Extending his arms towards the babies once again, Ryan simply said, "Dinosaurs," as if that explained everything. Yaz and Graham nodded understandingly but The Doctor was still lost. A human thing, then. A wonderful, ridiculous human thing. 

She smiled it off, these the moments that she loved the most. Experiencing the world through the bright eyes of her companions, reminded of the joy that the universe held. "Right," she said. "Shall we get you that tea?"

"Point me in the right direction and I'll do it, Doc," the older man offered. Beside him, Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Oi, you two. I'll have you know that I can brew a right decent cuppa."

Her fam scrunched up their faces, hiding with varying degrees of success their uncertainty. The Doctor threw her hands in the air, admitting defeat. "Humans! You just don't appreciate my talent. Hows about this instead: you put the kettle on and I'll take us somewhere nice for a picnic. Deal?"

The decision was unanimous.


End file.
